New Zealand help please.

Mr DL and I are doing a quick sprint to New Zealand on our trip to Australia in June. Neither of us have visited NZ before. DB has declined the invitation to travel with us (will we have a house to return to [:0]) so we are free to do what we wish [:D].
We are flying in and out of Auckland (arriving on Sunday evening) and have five nights to play with. I don't want to be rushing about like an idiot but want to get a taste of the North Island.
Mr DL would like to see the Bay of Islands and we'd both like to see some of the geothermals around Rotorua.Ideally we need too be back in AKL for our final night (EK have a 30? mile limit on the CDC).Is AKL worth a couple of nights? Is one night in Rotorua enough? Hotels or B+Bs?
All help and advice (as usual) gratefully accepted.
Thanks
DL

[Scrooge]

Paging Mr Decker, could Mr Decker please report to the travel general section please where a question is waiting.

Auckland is ok, but since time is short I would head down to Rotorua - an easy drive via Hamilton (about 220k).

A good geothermal area is Wai a Tapu - a bit out of Rotorua but imho the best balance between raw nature and touristy tarting up.

It might be tight to then drive back up to AKL and onto the Bay of Islands - another option might be to head north from Rotorua to the Bay of Plenty and then travel up the Coromandel peninsula - then back to AKL.

Back in AKL a visit to the volcanic island of Rangi toto is worthwhile - there are regular ferries from AKL.

Have fun!

quote:Originally posted by DragonLady
Mr DL and I are doing a quick sprint to New Zealand on our trip to Australia in June. Neither of us have visited NZ before. DB has declined the invitation to travel with us (will we have a house to return to [:0]) so we are free to do what we wish [:D].
We are flying in and out of Auckland (arriving on Sunday evening) and have five nights to play with. I don't want to be rushing about like an idiot but want to get a taste of the North Island.
Mr DL would like to see the Bay of Islands and we'd both like to see some of the geothermals around Rotorua.


I stayed at the Kauri Cliffs, which was very nice. If you're into your golf then I it's a definite. I'm not. Swinging of any sort never made it onto my menu. If you don't mind the walk, there are three or four beaches on the property which were deserted upart from us. Very good for kayaking if you're into that sort of thing - I needed a guide/teacher as it had been a very long time since I'd last tried.

I thought Kerikeri was a bit of a let down. Reminded me a bit of Byron Bay or Cairns but smaller and without a beach - a bit of a hippy place.

Take care with the driving. Not far out of Auckland the roads turn into single lanes in each direction. Police can be quite sharp on speeding motorists as I have been witness to. It's very tempting to put your foot down: the drive does drag on and becomes very tedious after a while.

Never been to Rotorua so can't say.

Not sure if you've sorted out Auckland. I've only stayed at the Hilton and Star City, although the Hilton has seen me several time now. The Bow suites are just stunning, certainly in my top five hotel rooms of all time. Dining is a bit hit and miss there though.

Have you thought about Waiheke Island a short ferry ride from downtown Auckland? I've stayed at the Boatshed in the Lighthouse suite twice now. Love it. What a real Boutique hotel is all about. Unique, and with only half a dozen rooms, unmatched personal service. Very special.

Howard

Howard

[Decker]

I was working not playing

[HighFlyer]

Nick is doing a tour of NZ so I am sure he can give you some tips on his return.

Thanks,
Sarah

I spent 3 months touring NZ, admittedly about 10 years ago now...great times. [y] I am so envious as it is a fantastic place...I can get a bit enthusiastic about it so apologies if the below is a bit overwhelming [:I]

Personally, I'd get out of Auckland as soon as possible - nothing against it, it's just...an average town.

Rotorua is indeed a good place to visit - lots of geysers, thermal pools, and funny coloured lakes. If you have been to Yellowstone, then you will know the score, but it is still definitely worth a trip. Rotorua is also a centre of Maori culture so I'd also suggest attending a hangi, if you can - a ceremonial Maori dinner. Okay, it's all put on for the benefit of the tourists and so feels a bit artificial, but if you can get over that and enter into the spirit (and fancy being taught how to do a haka [:D] by a friendly Maori), it'll give you good memories

One word of warning - be ready for the all-pervading smell of rotten eggs in the town, and it will be on you for days when you leave...!

There are three other things I'd strongly recommend, if you can fit them in:

Lake Taupo - near Rotorua - do a tandem skydive over Lake Taupo, which is frankly enormous - NZd's largest lake. Fantastic experience, espcecially if you have never been skydiving before. http://www.taupotandemskydiving.com/tandem.htm

Hamilton - near Auckland, on the way to Rotorua - the glow worm caves are fantastic, as long as you are not claustrophobic. Avoid the mainstream tours if you can, where you drift through on a large boat and it's all a bit Disney. Instead, I strongly recommend black water rafting through them, which is simply the most amazing fun you can have underground. You need to be mobile enough to fit into rubber tractor tyres, and manage some moderate exertion, but it is perfectly safe and there was no problem with my 14-stone and bad back. http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting.aspx

Napier - on the east coast. This is an amazing town, which was demolished by an earthquake in the 30s and rebuilt in completely in Art Deco style (even the McDonalds is the world's only Art Deco McDonalds). It is surrounded by vineyards, so definitely take a vineyard tour. Try and find a small independent tour guide: otherwise you get swept up on a big coach that decants you at an endless series of major vineyards for carefully-controlling tasting and buying opportunities. I went with a small independent operator who took a group of us in a minibus round to some off-the-beaten-track vineyards where we were on our own, able to take our time, chat to the owners, and customise the tour to our taste in wine. Highly recommended [:o)]

EDIT: Pretty sure it was Vince's Wine Tours I used - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g2 ... sland.html. Glad to see he's still going strong!

Napier is also close(-ish) to the East Cape - NZ's eastern-most point - so if you fancy being one of the first people in the world to see the sun rise it's worth a drive up there. Not much else to do there, though, and I can speak from personal experience when I say they definitely need more petrol stations up there.

EDIT; just remembered - if you are fit and like hiking, then the Tongariro Crossing is one of the world's best (I'm told...not a hiker, me [:#]). It takes a full day and a lot of uphill walking, but if you want to see some amazing mineral pools, geysers and walk around the rim of an active volcano, this is your bunny. It's just south of Rotorua. http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/

Finally, I'd personally stay in B&Bs rather than hotels - New Zealand is so friendly you'd miss out a lot by saying in the more formal atmosphere of a hotel.

I actually stayed in hostels a lot - yes, I know what you are all thinking [:I] - but while I wouldn't have gone near some with a bargepole, especially in the major cities, some were simply out-of-this world. For example this place - http://www.kenepuruecolodge.co.nz/index.html - is 30 a night for a private double room and absolutely gorgeous, even if only accessible by water taxi / several days walk...shame it's on the South Island.

One word of warning - wherever you book to stay, make sure it's NOT used by the Kiwi Experience tour group....shudder.


Cheers

Drew

Thanks all. Still dithering...

As a former resident of Christchurch I thought would offer my two pennies worth.

Being biased that I am I would select th south island over the north island if I had to visit just one island. However the north hasits own quirk and whilst not as physically stunning as the south is still great

For an Auckland hotel take a look at sebel suites- they are an Australian company and the accomodation was excellent. You won't get four seasons or ritz Carlton service but still good. Or as Howard points out the Hilton round the corner is pretty good

if you are going to do Rotorua I would advise a short stay-if you have been to Iceland you won't be too I
pressed. My sister lived in Hamilton and it really is a place to use as a stopover point for the night.

Do Hawkes Bay area for wine and in Wellington check out Te PApa. Wellngton hotel wise look at the IC but be advised it's not up to the usual IC standards if IIRC.

Certainly google b and bs they are not what you would find in the UK Nd can be more akin to boutique hotels.